It sounds a little funny when you say those words – Average American – out loud, especially when there’s no such thing as “average” anymore. Not according to Wikipedia, at least. According to them, there are no classifications out there anymore that make up greater than 30% of the population, meaning to say that there is no such thing as “average” to begin with.

But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find another Wiki article which tells us, basically, that almost all of us are very much the same; we’re people that have families and loved ones, and we’re doing what we can to take care of ourselves and the people around us. OK… maybe not exactly in those words, but you get my meaning; 94.9% of us are middle class or below, we have bills to pay, and mouths to feed, and (God willing) jobs to get to so we can afford to do it all.

It seems to me that the “average” American is that person who get’s up, gets a shower, wakes the kids up, gets breakfast… maybe finishes up a science project… and gets the kids off to school before going off to work ourselves.

At no time is there really a chance to learn what is going on in America. Folks might “hear” something but they can’t really substantiate it one way or another.

So, they work an 8 or 10 hour shift, trying to make money to support their children or pay their bills. They might “hear” something on the radio about this or about that, but again – depending on where they “hear” it – it could be nothing more than “agenda driven” and not based on any fact.

Finally, they get out of work and, once again, they hit the ground running. They are either picking the kids up, or running to a baseball/football/wrestling practice or game. Then, they have to hurry home to fix dinner, do homework, and get the kids off to bed. By now it’s 9 o’clock at night.

For most people that means it’s time to relax, watch some TV, talk with their spouse, work in the garage or watch a game. Most people are not going to start “independent studies” on which political party is screwing them, which network is lying, who has an agenda, and what any of it will do to America, their children, or their jobs.

Ultimately, we figure most people in America are good and decent people, and we are right. Unfortunately, to most of us, politicians don’t fit in that category.

It’s hard to believe that our Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would leave Americans to die, and then cover it up (it happened). It’s hard to believe that we would let criminals into our country, illegally, and let them stay indefinitely (with benefits) but it happens every day (illegal immigration). It’s hard to believe that, if you succeed too much, the government will penalize you by taking away whatever they decide you don’t need and give it to whoever they decide needs it more (they do it more each day). It’s hard to believe that politicians… people we trust to do our bidding… would destroy America (they do it every chance they get).

Why?

Because most Americans don’t know what the hell is going on, that’s why!! But as I already said, how can we? We’re too busy working and raising a family and trying to live our real lives, and we want to live our lives free in the knowledge that our party and our leaders are working on our behalf.

Do we believe Rachel Maddow, Sean Hannity, MSNBC, FOX, CNN? Can we trust our “Party” or our Union reps or our local political leaders to really look out for us and not take advantage of us? Can any of them be believed?

Remember: it was Congress that got caught doing insider trading before they made laws to stop themselves from doing it any more. Then – when we weren’t looking – they essentially took those laws away again.

In the end, it’s ultimately up to us to find out what the Republicans and Democrats are saying and doing; they certainly don’t bother to research themselves beyond the 6 0’clock news soundbites. But we want to live our lives and do our jobs and raise our family and have some fun too. We don’t want to spend our evenings deciphering who is lying and who is not… or what “Party” really reflects our views.

We want to do our civic duty so long as it doesn’t get in the way of the rest of our daily life.

In 2008 my life changed when Barack Obama came into my front yard on a campaign stop. I asked him why he wanted to raise taxes, and he said that he wanted to “spread the wealth.” Since then, I have gained a national following as “Joe the Plumber” and now travel the country speaking and encouraging other everyday folks to get involved in the political process.